Scott Weiland – Remembering a Beautiful Soul

Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart

The first 20 years of my career were spent in radio; programming, music, marketing, promotions, building teams, overseeing events, building new stations, and I had the unique privilege of meeting and interviewing over a thousand alternative rock artists and bands. Most were fantastic, some were terrible,  many were fun, and a couple of them were haunting.

One of them was Scott Weiland. 

The news of his death has been met with mixed reactions. Grief, of course; but much of the feelings being shared are sprinkled with comments about the lack of surprise. He battled drug addition his entire adult life, so many aren't surprised he died young. We often call them demons, as if they aren't to be given the same care and respect we give a physical injury or chronic illness and that's wrong!

I first heard Scott’s band Stone Temple Pilots in 1993. It was thick and melodic; the lyrics haunting and later telling of a tortured soul searching for peace. It was a time when grunge had slid into a rebirth of bombastic arena rock drenched in glam and escape. It was a release from the angst of Nirvana and Alice in Chains while borrowing some of their tones and feeling.

Big Empty

Scott was the showman, the clown, the sad man, a riveting force on stage with his lizard dance. He was an artistic man who couldn’t quench his never ending thirst for harmony in the pit of his soul and much of it was right out there for the world to watch. I saw him perform five times. He was mesmerizing.

I met Scott in 1999 when I was at The Edge in Toronto. The band came into our street-level studio for an interview and to perform acoustically. The original plan was three songs. Between the fourth and fifth, Scott came over to me and said; “Sorry for hoggin' your studio, man.” I said; “You guys are welcome to play all night.”

The studio was about 600 square feet. We were crammed in there; it was as if the biggest band on the planet was performing in our living room.

Interstate Love Song

Meeting him afterward, he was exactly what you’d expect; arrogant and dismissive, he could hardly make eye contact yet screaming for attention. He was the star of the show shrouded in a cloak of debilitating self-doubt. As we were gathering for dinner, he turned and looked right at me and said; “Do you like the new album?” I said; “Yes I do”.

He paused like the kid waiting for mom to approve his latest finger painting. Not to be over dramatic, but I felt like I saw a glimmer of Scott rather than the lead singer of a band. A second later, the rock star reappeared and he said; “Cool, thanks dude” and he got into the van. At dinner, he was the life of the party. I suspect sitting quietly wasn't his strong suit.

Plush

A while later, STP band mates Eric Kretz and Robert & Dean DeLeo were in town with their side project Talk Show. Scott was serving time in prison. The pain his brothers felt for him was palpable. After dinner, we talked for hours. It was a human moment, not a radio programmer hanging with rock stars’ moment.

During that period, it was funny that I seem to run into Dean and Robert in the oddest places; at a video shoot in LA, a festival in Atlanta, and a show in NYC. They are lovely people certainly missing their family member.

Vasoline

During and after STP, Scott had Velvet Revolver, Camp Freddy, The Magnificent Bastards, The Wondergirls, and Art of Anarchy. He was found just before his band The Wildabouts were to hit the stage at a show in Bloomington, Minnesota; still on the road, still chasing and running, while the adoring fans cheered on.

We know Scott Weilland because he was famous but his struggle was far too common.

Like millions, I loved his music; still do. We didn’t know how to have the right conversation of the struggle he and far too many others are facing. This is not a story of yet another drug induced rock star found on a tour bus. This is a lesson that what we see in front of us is often not what is there at all.

Scott Richard Weiland – Rest in peace.
Oct 27, 1967 – Dec 3, 2015


__________________________________________________________________

Speaking Our Truth

If you’ve done any reading on topics of self-improvement, Tarot, or the Buddha, you know about the importance of speaking your truth. Sure, sounds good, I’ll get right on that. But what does it mean?

I’m going through a program right now that has enlightened and shocked me on this whole topic. It’s exciting and scary, remarkable and uncomfortable. What the hell does it mean to speak your truth?

Eureka!

This is at our core, deep down past the conscious mind where that unseen bullseye resides. One of my colleagues said that healing is not unpainful and she was absolutely right. It’s tough to reprogram our behavior to align with what we feel is right and what we deeply want in our lives.

Speaking our truth can be messy. There will be causalities; most of which are truths you’ve told about yourself your entire life. I’m a helpful person, I love others unconditionally, I enjoy being creative. Speaking your truth is deeper than that. It began before we were born. We have spent our life defining our truths aligned with what our parent taught us, what our teachers told us, and what our family showed us.

That’s it!

It hit me on a phone call over the weekend, mid-sentence, I found myself falling into my self-imposed traps of guilt and excuses. I had plans, I couldn’t change them for the request that was asked of me on the call and I said no. It was like a knife in my throat. How could I say no?! Well, I found the strength to do so.

But I let that guilt ride with me for a few more miles. I felt bad I didn’t drop my plans to help them. No! This isn’t about dishonouring others for your benefit; it’s about understanding who you are and being okay with healthy boundaries and a healthy relationship with yourself.

The toughest part about speaking our truth is letting go of the truths that we feel have defined us. When we do that, something profound happens.

Our truth speaks to us.
__________________________________________________________________
As a passionate leader, Kneale Mann has extensive experience in project management, leadership development, business, marketing, media, and talent coaching in numerous industries and organizations including; radio, digital marketing, corporate training, real estate, financial services, healthcare and more. He is always open to meeting companies and organizations who want to become even greater.

Madiba

The father of democracy in South Africa and beloved man around the world died yesterday with the same dignity that gave him the strength to endure 27 years of imprisonment then emerge as the first black president of his country, the key figure in the ending of apartheid, and the recipient of the Noble Peace Prize.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela's poise, grace, and leadership inspired billions and will do so for generations to come.

PBS tells Mandela's story.


__________________________________________________________________
Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela | PBS

The Face of a Leader

“Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right.”

Much has been written, discussed, and said about the attributes of a great leader. It’s perhaps easy for us to look to sports or business for those examples because they are plentiful but how often are they right there, in the middle of real life?

Before October 9th, 2012 most of us had never heard of Mingora, Pakistan. It is located in the Swat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The landscape is stunning, the people are strong, and at one time it was a tourist destination. Queen Elizabeth called it the “Switzerland of the new Empire”. But fear and terror are now part of daily life in Mingora as the Taliban’s presence has replaced peace.

"I am not here to speak against the Taliban. I'm here to speak up for the right of every child."

Three years ago, a young Mingora girl began writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. Her perspective was simply from a girl who wanted to realize her potential and for those around her. The New York Times filmed a documentary of her life which created more exposure for her and her cause.

She gave television and print interviews and soon her real identity was known. Her work garnered a nomination for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.

"The extremists are afraid of books & pens. The power of education frightens them."

Malala Yousafzai was a brave young girl who was simply sharing her feelings and telling the stories of her town. But the Taliban was paying close attention and October 9th, 2012 they attempted an assassination on her life.

While she was returning home from school, a Taliban gunman shot her in the head and neck leaving her for dead. Malala miraculously survived and has become more vocal than ever, speaking for the rights of girls around the world to gain a good education and realize their dreams.

"I am focusing on women to be independent."

United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Yousafzai's name, using the slogan "I am Malala" demanding all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Time magazine featured her on the cover as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World".

Malala has become the youngest person to ever be nominated for a Noble Peace Prize and has won the Pakistan National Youth Peace Prize, Sakharov Prize, and Simone de Beauvoir Prize.

"I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard."

In just over a year, she survived being shot in the head, written a book, shown her bravery in the face of terror, spoke at the United Nations, appeared on countless televisions networks, met with country leaders – including President Obama – to fight for woman’s educational rights, and created The Malala Fund to further the cause.

If you want to see leadership personified, meet 16 year old Malala Yousafzai.


__________________________________________________________________
Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

tribune | united nations

A Year From Now

Each morning on Twitter, I post a lyric, quote, saying, thought, quip, or idea.

Here’s the list from December 2012

We can't control others' perceptions. Make time for life time. You don't need eyes to see, you need vision (Maxi Jazz)

If you want expand your scope, meet a minimum of five new people this week. Shut out the naysayers, especially the ones in your head. If you can dream it, you can do it. (Walt Disney)

If you want to help others, discover what drives you. If you want to inspire others, let them in. One of the interesting things about success is that we think we know what it means. (Alain de Botton)

Focus on what you want, not what others think you should want. Are you telling your story or someone else's story?

Never underestimate the power of asking why. The things you are looking for will never be found inside the four walls of your comfort zone. (Mandy Hale) How can you improve your company's internal customer service?

Today is whatever I want it to mean. (Beth Orton) What's on your to-done list this week that will help you grow?

You don't want to be considered the best. Often our biggest obstacle is ourselves. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do. (Jerry Garcia)

Leadership is a verb.

Do something for someone today even if they don't know it was you.A year from now, you will wish you had started today. (Karen Lamb)

Follow your curiosity. (Einstein) Review what worked. Learn from what didn't. Bring forward what you want. Never underestimate the power of teamwork.

Find the quiet and you’ll find your voice.

Kneale Mann

espn

Selling the Hobby Farm

Collaboration: Working together to achieve a goal, a process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals.


In the last four or five years, I seem to have met more entrepreneurs than the previous two decades. Some is through my work and some is the time spent on the social web.

We can get intoxicated by the numbers and paralyzed by the activity. Many have confided that they have spent a lot of time trying to build their online presence yet business isn’t where it needs to be and it’s time to get serious. Building business takes time and hard work. Building a strong online presence for your business can seem like an endless climb.

Focus Focus Focus

I was speaking with a colleague a few weeks ago and we were discussing how to do a better job articulating offers and reaching prospective clients. She said, "It’s time to sell the hobby farm”. It was a metaphor that relates to figuring out how much time we are spending building a business versus how much we are spending messing about and calling it business.

Contact someone and offer to help. Contact someone and ask for help. Let's actually collaborate and sell the hobby farm.

Let's Connect, Not Collect

Kneale Mann

image credit: freefoto

Make Time for Think Time

The content will never end

Don’t follow rules, follow rules, be on every channel, be selective, watch this video, buy my program, read my blog, see this new thing.We are constantly trying to find ways to filter through the stuff and find what's important. But how do we shut out the noise from out there and inside our own minds?

Take Digital Time Off
The Internet will be here tomorrow. Shut off your computer and your phone. Try it for 24 hours. It's okay, we'll be here when you get back.

Keep Things Simple
I start less and finish more. It’s not easy and it takes daily practice. Squirrel.

Listen to Your Voice
It’s fascinating how much weight we give others' opinions. Take the time to listen to your voice more often. It knows you better than they do.

Find Your Focus
This is like adopting a new exercise regimen. The treadmill in my basement has yet to get me in shape on its own. Weird.

Memes Can Be Dangerous
The human mind is a miraculous machine that can create whatever reality we wish and for some strange reason negative thought can infiltrate faster than positive. Our thoughts are just our thoughts and we can work on turning self-doubt moments into action items.

Give Yourself a Break
Take some time by yourself and list all of your strengths. No one needs to see the list, so be completely honest with yourself.

Step Away. Enjoy the Silence.

Kneale Mann

image credit: wickednox
Original post: Aug 2010

Finding Your Digital Audience

Don't Wait For it to Find You

The world is travelling at the speed of light and we are trying to hang on just a moment longer to live in the now which has already passed. We are attempting to digest a mind numbing amount of content.  The Harvard Business Review published a piece dealing with the age old interview question: “Where will you be in five years?”

How About Five Minutes?

Depending on the circles you travel, you can feel completely out of sync with your clientele while it seems your competitors are cashing in. I’m asked all the time if YouIntegrate can help. The first step is to find out what you want to do with these digital channels and how you feel it can help you find your audience.

It is easy to create a profile. It is much more difficult to populate it with content that serves both your customers and your business. And it's even more challenging to have the patience for the time it takes to grow the community. After that you need to tend to its health and longevity. Campaign mentality will not create long-term growth.

You can spend a lot of time and money on messaging and media choices to see very little result. Or you can strike gold and then try and replicated it which is rare. The social web is a warm inviting temptress that can woo us into thinking we’re getting somewhere in short order. But there are no quick wins.

Easy Peasey

It is simple to go online, find a place to land and start barking. It is much more difficult to develop strong B2B or B2C relationships through the social web. This stuff takes time. If you look at how you built your business so far, it is the same process.

Mitch Joel wrote this week about the Mutterings of Twitter. He explained that we can easily pull out our smartphone at the check-in counter the moment our flight is delayed and send out an angry tweet or Facebook status update. The real-time web has given us the ability to publish material for free in an instant. The key is for companies to be with their customers all along so responses to service issues can be addressed. If they aren't there, they can't set the record straight.

Our Need to Connect

The only prediction we can make is that this will only get more challenging. We are not making less mobile devices, we are not shrinking the online world and the ability to grow a personal network is not diminishing.

But what you can do as a manager or owner is find your voice no matter the platform. Yes I can help. Then you can discover the power of sharing it no matter where your audience resides.

Have you found your voice? Have you found your audience?

Kneale Mann

image credit: istock

Finding Your Voice

Paralyzed With Fear

It was the day before my first on-air shift. Years of work had culminated in my chance to speak on the radio.

I had no experience. This was for skilled professionals.

All the people I admired made it seem effortless. I was terrified.

So I sought advice from a mentor.

Find your own voice and have fun.

Fun? I was petrified. I was excited for the opportunity but this was too real.

There were thousands of listeners hanging on my every word (or so I thought) and they would know I was a fake. They would be able to hear the nervousness in my voice and be laughing hysterically at this talentless idiot.

Who is this guy? How did he get on the radio?

Time gives us perspective and knowledge.

Twenty years and thousands of on-air shifts later, I was coaching others on how to find their voice. From that first horrifying moment of panic to the last time I was on-air, I always felt a twinge of nerves. This was still important.

My radio career continues to help when clients and colleagues lament their lack of experience in the online world. Everyone will know they’re a fake. They are over their heads. They don’t know what they’re doing and everyone knows it. They don’t know where to start. They don’t know what to say.

The customer can now find her own voice.

We all have the ability to build our own radio station then try to find an audience. We can build profiles and discussion platforms that give us a chance to broadcast whatever content we want. Understanding that the audience doesn't just appear and our content may not be desirable to others is the first step of acceptance.

The Three P's...

Patience | There are no lottery tickets, there are no short cuts, this will not happen immediately. This is not a campaign. Look at those you feel are doing it well and you will soon discover they are constantly revising and refining.

Practice | Whether you run long distances, drive a million dollar race car or perform surgery, you are won't master your craft the first time you try it. And thousands of procedures later, you will still be trying to get better.

Pay Attention | If your goal is to find an audience or paying customer base, you need to heed their feedback. If you make it about you, you may be your only listener. And the audience will not show up simply because you are looking for your own voice. Patience and practice will help.

While the classic rock station plays Zeppelin, the alternative station features the new Weezer album and the hit station does another story on Lindsay Lohan, you need to find your own voice.

And have fun!

knealemann
Create experiences not campaigns.

image credit: istock

Six Ideas to Silence the Chatter

We are overrun with content and it will never end.

Don’t follow rules, follow rules, be on every channel, be selective, watch this video, buy my program, read my blog, see this new thing.

We are constantly trying to find ways to filter through the stuff and find what's important. But how do we shut out the noise from out there and inside our own minds?

Take Digital Time Off

The Internet will be here tomorrow. Shut off your computer and your phone. Try it for 24 hours. It's okay, we'll be here when you get back.

Keep Things Simple

I start less and finish more. It’s not easy and it takes daily practice. Squirrel.

Listen to Your Voice

It’s fascinating how much weight we give others' opinions. Take the time to listen to your voice more often. It knows you better than they do.

Find Your Focus

This is like adopting a new exercise regimen. The treadmill in my basement has yet to get me in shape on its own. Weird.

Your Memes Can Be Dangerous

The human mind is a miraculous machine that can create whatever reality we wish and for some strange reason negative thought can infiltrate faster than positive. Our thoughts are just our thoughts and we can work on turning self-doubt moments into action items.

Give Yourself a Break

Take some time by yourself and list all of your strengths. No one needs to see the list, so be completely honest with yourself.

How do you silence the chatter?

knealemann
Create experiences not campaigns.

image credit: pfreefoto